Renovation - What you should know about your window replacement contractor

If your mailbox looks anything like mine, each week you receive a coupon or special offer from a company offering to replace your windows. Free windows, free sliding doors, trips to Hawaii, etc.

Why all the junk mail? Window replacement is a highly profitable niche of the remodeling industry, in-fact, some of the biggest remodeling contractors in the country specialize in window replacement. In order to maintain their project flow, many of these companies use aggressive promotion and sales tactics.

On a country built on specialization, hiring a firm that specializes in window replacement might seem like the logical choice. Before you do, make sure you hire the right firm. If you call one of these firms, chances, are they’ll send a consultant (AKA, salesperson) to visit your house, they’ll measure your windows, try to sell you the most expensive window they have and get you signed-up at that visit. Not exactly a consultive approach.

There are many problems with this approach. These include, trying to sell you the most expensive windows (since they are commissioned based) and selling you windows that are wrong for your home. For instance, using expensive high-performance windows for energy savings when there might be cheaper, more effective, ways to save energy, such as insulting your attic or under floor space.

A window is only as good as the installation and that is usually left to the field crew. Part of the challenge of getting a good installation with these companies is their focus is on volume. Many installers are paid on a piece work basis (per window). Compensating the installers on how quickly they get the job done makes it hard to do it right.

So, before you hire one of these companies find out what brand of windows they carry, are these “private label” or “house brands”, many house brands are value engineered to increase the profit margin for the replacement company and are inferior. If you’re replacing your windows to save energy, see if they perform a real energy audit and payback analysis; don’t just rely on vague claims about “saving energy”.

Find out who will be doing the installation; are these company employees or sub-contractors? Are they paid by the window? Finally, find out the qualifications of the person supervising the project, this should be an experienced contractor.

If they push back to your questions with vague assurances like “don’t worry it’s guaranteed“, keep looking. Remember, this is your house and it has to be done right.

Another choice for replacing your windows

Before you call the number on the piece of junk mail offering “free windows” or a trip to Hawaii, consider another approach, hiring a remodeling contractor to replace your windows. This approach has numerous advantages; you’re not limited to a specific brand(s) of window like you are with most replacement contractors, if there are trim or siding repairs needed, your contractor can take care of them, if you want to change window sizes or add and delete windows, your contractor can do all of this at the same time.

Also, if you have a historic home, this is really the only logical choice, since a qualified remodeling contractor will be able to match the details of your home assuring its historical integrity.

Many home owners take a keen interest in researching the windows for their home. Hiring a remodeling contractor and not a window replacement company means that you are able to use whatever window you want, not just select from their narrow range of options.

So, before you fall for the “free” trip to Hawaii, review your window replacement project with a qualified remodeling contractor.

BuildSmart can help you when it comes to working with all sorts of contractors. We know the questions to ask and the qualifications to look for. We can also teach you how to identify the right vendor for your work. At BuildSmart, we turn owners into builders every day. Contact us to learn more about how we can help your next renovation project a success.

Water world: Do you need to renovate your siding?

Recently, BuildSmart got a call from a homeowner who was interested in replacing their siding. She was having the aluminum windows in her 1970’s rambler replaced. The window replacement contractor doing the work told her that her siding had “failed”. This of course created much anxiety for the homeowner. After doing a site inspection of the house; we realized that the window replacement company’s prognosis was based on the siding being worn in places. This was nothing that a fresh coat of paint wouldn’t fix. This sparked a conversation with the homeowner about when siding did need to be replaced and the knowledge base of her window replacement contractor.

There are really only two reasons to replace your siding.

1. You don’t like the way that it looks
2. It doesn’t work

You don’t like the way it looks

The look part is obviously subjective; if you don’t like the look of your house, the simple remedy is to repaint it. Sometimes though, the only way to re-image a house is to re-side it. This can be complicated and costly and is usually done as part of a major remodel. During a major remodel or addition, there are usually many changes to the exterior envelope such as changing window and door locations. If you’re not careful, all this patching can result in a “Swiss cheese” look, so the best course in these situations is to just re-side the house.

It doesn’t work

Before you can determine that your siding doesn’t work, consider what it’s supposed to do. In simple terms, siding protects your house from the weather; rain, snow, wind and wind-driven rain. Most residential siding is installed over a moisture barrier (either “tarpaper” or Tyveck house warp) the siding works together with the moisture barrier. Although there are now more advanced moisture control systems, the majority of houses in the country have some version of the above.

The principles at work are very elementary; rain is stopped by the siding and carried vertically down to the ground, assuming the ground around the house is sloped properly, then the water is carried harmlessly away. The challenge is that water is insidious. Unless your siding is properly detailed, water will find its way past the siding.

The detailing challenges for a properly installed siding system typically occur at windows and doors. Unless properly designed, these openings allow moisture behind the siding causing damage to the house. There are myriad resources for window and door details, the problem comes down to the people in the field doing the installation.

So, the good news for this homeowner was that her siding hadn’t failed. However, after the faulty diagnosis by the replacement contractor, she wanted to make sure her window replacement was done correctly and didn’t create more problems than it solved. Since the window replacement contractor was already under contract to the homeowner, our solution was to hire an architect to verify that the window details were properly followed.

This was an extra step but for the homeowner provided valuable peace of mind to make sure her job was done right.

BuildSmart can help you make the right choice when it comes to decisions about siding systems and exterior updates. We are turning owners into builders every day by enabling them to take the mystery out of renovation and remodeling.

Repairing vs. remodeling

Repairing and remodelling. These terms are used interchangeably; however, the difference between the two is huge. To make money and create equity, you simply must understand the difference.

The best way to think about this is to visualize an iceberg. What you see above the water is only a small portion of the whole. Over 9/10 of the iceberg is below the surface. I could make some obvious titanic jokes, but I won’t, instead, I want you to visualize that iceberg like a homeowner would.

Home buyers usually value only what they see, so, if they can see fresh carpet, new appliances and counters then they mentally attribute some value to them. Conversely, what they can’t see it, they won’t value.

This is the critical difference between repairing and remodeling. Repairs are inevitably costly and time consuming but, don’t necessarily create any tangible value. Yes, this is a paradox but it is also true. When you go to resell your house, there is an expectation on the part of the buyer that, things work. Take the roof; buyers tend to over-focus on the condition of the roof. The expectation is that it won’t leak. If the roof has new asphalt shingles great, people value that. But imagine for a moment you had remodeled this house. You know it needed new shingles, what you didn’t know, was that that the roof has been leaking for a long time so the sheathing was rotted along with the roof trusses.

So, what should have been a simple reroof turned into a costly repair item to fix the sheathing and trusses. A buyer will value the new roof but not the structural repair.
The new shingles then are an example of a remodel item, something that adds value faster than cost.

The fix to the roof sheathing and trusses on the other hand an example of a repair, that while although necessary, doesn’t add any resale value.

BuildSmart take away: Understand the difference between repairs that add cost and repairs that add value.

Geometry for remodeling, or respect the triangle

Condition; neigborhood; cost. It's a triangle you have to respect if you're going to have a successful building project. Use this tool to help with your selection. Rather than trying to get each side perfect, use this concept to your advantage. Are you skilled at remodeling, if so then condition is less important to you. Instead, focus on the house and neighborhood. You can then take on a more extensive project in a better neighborhood. If you’ll be hiring a contractor to perform all renovation tasks, then condition is vitally important. In this scenario, structural repairs can quickly blow-up your budgets, so be sure to select properties and projects that only require cosmetic upgrades. Some buyers and investors are very sensitive about neighborhoods, wanting to only locate in specific neighborhoods. This is usually driven by convenience or familiarity. In either case, being deep in specific neighborhoods can give you a real advantage.

Remodeling to sell vs. remodeling to live: Just exactly perfect

Know when its OK to leave it OK

When you remodel, it’s easy to fall into the trap of wanting everything to be perfect. You have pride in your work and you rightly want it to show. So, when you remodel your house, you want to demonstrate your skill and infinite good taste. This can go to crazy extremes. Once, I was working designing and remodeling a humble 1910 house. Like many house from this era, it was built rather “informally” i.e., nobody must have owned a framing square. The house looked fine, but on closer inspection the entire house was slightly out-of-square.

From a practical standpoint, this was imperceptible. An old house being out-of-square three inches doesn’t really matter. The lead carpenter however had a different idea. He saw leaving the house as is and not correcting this as an affront to his craftsmanship and reputation. If this was his own house, then yes go ahead and address it but as it wasn’t and was being improved for resale, just leave it. Unfortunately, this wasn’t to be and countless hours were spent trying to fix this problem. The end result creating no tangible value for the project.

BuildSmart take away: know when it’s OK to leave it OK.